Of Police And Escapee Murder Suspect

Since the escape from Police custody of ritual murder suspect, Ifeanyichukwu Maxwell Dike, over a week ago, the call for justice for eight year-old Miss  Chikamso Victory, allegedly murdered by the suspect has never ceased from bewildered and sympathetic Nigerians.
The ordering of an intensive manhunt for the suspect and the arrest and detention of Johnbosco Okoronize, the Investigating Police Officer in the case by the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr Zaki Mohammed Ahmed has not doused the disappointment of Nigerians over the apparent incompetence displayed by the police in the escape of the suspect.
Ifeanyichukwu Dike, it would be recalled was arrested by a combined team of Okporo Police Station operatives and Eliozu vigilante  team in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, where the suspect allegedly defiled, murdered and removed vital organs of eight-year-old Miss Chikamso Victory for ritual purposes.
Police Commissioner Ahmed’s present intervention is not enough to douse the tension and lack of public confidence in the capability of the police to professionally discharge its constitutional responsibilities and obligations to the citizenry.
Not even his pronouncement that the second suspect linked to the killing of the minor will pacify the public enough and restore public confidence in the police, especially against the backdrop of the mysterious escape of the principal suspect, Ifeanyi Maxwell Dike, a level 200 Physics student of the University of Port Harcourt.
Perhaps, the only thing that can pacify the public, especially the parents and relations of the late Chikamso Victory is the eventual re-arrest and prosecution of the suspect.
Sadly, the spirited efforts of the State Police Command to explain the circumstances surrounding the escape of the suspect from the well-secured SCID has been most unsatisfactory and unacceptable to discerning minds, who suspect high level police conspiracy in the principal suspect’s escape.
The Tide thinks that the only option left for the police high command is to institute a high-powered inquiry to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the  suspect.
Similarly, the police must stop at nothing to ensure that Maxwell Dike is re-arrested as soon as possible while others linked to the gruesome murder are also fished out to face the law.
It is indeed sad that in the digital era that we now live in, a facility housing a State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) still uses candle light to obtain statements from suspects, despite the unparalled assistance from the Rivers State Government to the police and other security agencies operating in the state. We note that the ritual murder suspect might not have escaped, if the police station was well illuminated.
The narrative by the victim’s father and complainant, Mr Ernest Mezioba, of how the police obtained the statements from him and the suspect with a candle light is unspeakable and embarrassing, to say the least. This perhaps encouraged the suspect to escape after feigning to be thirsty and requesting for sachet water.
According to Mezioba, the IPO sent him to buy water for the suspect and while he was on the errand, he heard shouts of “please, please, help me, the suspect has escaped”.
This tale makes the entire episode suspicious and only a thorough inquiry will satisfy Nigerians and restore public confidence in the Police.
The Tide implores the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to immediately take over the matter and ensure that all those culpable in the case face severe sanctions and prosecution.
We believe that when suspects are allowed to escape from police custody, either by omission or commission, the public will have no other option than to resort to self-help or jungle justice when suspects are apprehended.
The Tide sees the escape of the murder suspect from the SCID as a serious indictment on the Rivers State Police Command and no amount of explanation or apology could assuage public feelings in a capital offence such as the matter in question, except the re-arrest and prosecution of the suspect.
Dike’s escape portends grave danger to our collective security and exemplifies the highest professional negligence and apathy which must not be allowed or tolerated by the police hierarchy.
We affirm that the volunteered information by the escapee murder suspect, coupled with that of the complainant and the Vigilante Group that apprehended the suspect with evidence of the mutilated body parts of the victim was enough reason to have put the suspect in hand-cuffs or leg-chains before and after his statement to avoid the messy affair which the police have currently found themselves in.